State puts temporary hold on proposals to cut capacity and
services at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards announced during a
press conference on Friday, March 5,
that the state’s proposals to drastically
cut capacity and services at St. John’s
Episcopal Hospital (SJEH) have been
put on hold by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s
office.
Richards was joined by several
southeast Queens elected officials, community
leaders and workers of SJEH
outside of the hospital for a scheduled
press conference meant to vehemently
condemn the three different proposals
developed by the New York State
Department of Health (NYSDOH) and
a consulting firm, that he said would
“gut” the safety net hospital.
“Today was supposed to be a day
where we would continue to fight
about the … ridiculous proposals that
were put in place that would decimate
this hospital,” Richards said. “But I’m
happy to say based on the work of all of
us coming together — and that means
elected officials who came together
when we got the news, including the
staff of St. John’s, and most importantly,
you, the community — because of
you, we have got a reprieve of keeping
St. John’s hospital moving.”
Elected officials explained the reprieve
came within the last 24 hours,
after the community rallied to stop the
only full-service hospital in the peninsula
— where the first COVID-19 case
in Queens was identified nearly a year
ago — from undergoing drastic cuts.
“We came together immediately
and went to the governor’s office, and
said, ‘What’s going on?'” Congressman
Gregory Meeks said.
One of the proposals favored by the
state, according to information shared
with QNS, included transforming the
hospital into a “micro hospital,” which
would reduce beds from 257 to 15, close
services like pediatrics and labor and
delivery, and eliminate more than
1,000 jobs.
All of the proposals would mean
Rockaway residents would have to
travel to their nearest hospitals, between
Mount Sinai South Nassau and
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, for
full-service needs — which can take
more than 30 minutes by car or more
than an hour by public transit.
“They immediately went to work,
and yesterday informed all of us, collectively,
that funding for St. John’s
Episcopal Hospital will maintain the
same,” Meeks said.
However, the elected officials and
SJEH leadership cautioned that the reprieve
is only temporary.
While Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano,
who chairs the SJEH board,
thanked the elected officials, the community
and Cuomo for the temporary
hold, he said “there is a disconnect”
between the governor’s messaging
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and elected officials hold a press conference outside St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
in Far Rockaway. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
about healthcare disparities and the
state’s budgetary proposals.
“We’ve been here before,” Provenzano
said. “It makes no real sense to any
of us who are trying to provide quality
healthcare to at-risk communities
to have this cycle in which our state
government is wanting to balance the
budget on the backs of the most needy
communities. Governor Cuomo himself
said that the COVID-19 pandemic
was so hard felt by communities at risk
because prior to COVID-19 they lacked
the quality healthcare … while he
was saying that very thing, the proposal
was being delivered to us that would
have left this hospital as a micro hospital,
serving a growing community.”
State Senator James Sanders encouraged
the community to continue
organizing to help build out the hospital
and southeast Queens.
The nonprofit, privately run hospital
primarily treats Black and Brown
communities of the Rockaways who
have been historically underserved
and disproportionately impacted by
the COVID-19 pandemic. It serves
more than 130,000 residents in the peninsula.
All of the proposals presented to
SJEH would have resulted in more
than 1,000 jobs lost for the next fiscal
year, which begins in April 2021. The
hospital currently employs about 1,700
people, according to a SJEH official.
Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson
called the reprieve a “temporary victory.”
“We cannot close our eyes to the
threats that are being cast on this hospital,”
said Anderson, adding the proposals
showcased “medical racism.”
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | MARCH 12-MARCH 18, 2021
“Healthcare is one of the largest employers
in history on this peninsula,
with over 44 percent of our employment
on this peninsula being in the healthcare
industry. A loss of this hospital
would’ve been a loss of jobs, would’ve
been a loss of livelihoods, would’ve
been a loss of homes and it would’ve
been a loss for our community.”
Dr. Germán Antonio Reyes, a representative
of 1199SEIU who works
at SJEH, said although news of the
reprieve is good, there is still “a lot of
work to do.”
“Rather than see our services diminished,
we need to see St. John’s
grow. We need to see the services provided
to our community grow. We need
to see this community protected and
invested in, not under-invested in,”
Reyes said.
Anderson added that they have to
“get stronger” on the role of private
consultants negotiating their healthcare,
referring to ToneyKorf Partners,
LLC, the consulting firm paid for by
the state that came up with cost-reduction
measures for the hospital.
“There’s no rhyme or reason that
private consultants almost got rid
of our hospital, private consultants
who have a track record of destroying
healthcare in our communities,” Anderson
said.
Bishop Provenzano also criticized
the consulting firm and the state for
not understanding the need of the immediate
communities, even after SJEH
provided a study by an outside firm indicating
the need for more accessible
healthcare.
“I think it’s important to understand
that the underlying motivation
here is for the state not to have to be
fiscally responsible for the safety net
hospital,” he said.
SJEH is located in the 11691 ZIP
code, which includes the communities
of Far Rockaway and Edgemere, and
was ranked the second-most deadly in
New York City at the height of the pandemic.
According to the NYC Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene’s COVID-
19 database, 11691 has recorded 418
confirmed COVID-19 deaths and has a
fatality rate of 625 per 100,000 residents
as of March 3 — the third- and fourthhighest
of any ZIP code in New York
City, respectively.
Richards said that lack of investment
in healthcare is a borough-wide
issue.
“We have the lowest hospital beds
per capita. You look at the population
here, we’re growing,” Richards said. “I
visited just about all nine hospitals in
Queens, you hear the same thing over
and over again, the need for more hospital
beds.”
NYSDOH’s spokesperson Erin Silk
previously told QNS that they’ve increased
funding for SJEH in the last
two years, and have not required SJEH
to implement any of the proposals.
“The Department looks forward
to working with the leadership of St.
John’s Episcopal, together with the
workers, elected officials and other
stakeholders, in reviewing these options,
among others, to find a solution
that will work for all parties,”
Silk said. “In the meantime, the state
is continuing to provide substantial
operating support to St. John’s
Episcopal.”
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12/18/1948-3/09/2021
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